Article 160 of the Treaty provides that the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is intended to help to redress the main regional imbalances in the Community. The ERDF therefore contributes to reducing the gap between the levels of development of the various regions and the extent to which the least favoured regions, including rural and urban areas, declining industrial regions, areas with a geographical or natural handicap, such as islands, mountainous areas, sparsely populated areas and border regions, are lagging behind.
(2)
The provisions common to the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund (4). Specific provisions concerning the type of activities which may be financed by the ERDF under the objectives defined in that Regulation should be laid down.
(3)
The ERDF should provide assistance within the framework of an overall strategy for cohesion policy which ensures greater concentration of assistance on the priorities of the Community.
(4)
Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 provides that rules on eligibility of expenditure are to be established at national level, with certain exceptions for which it is necessary to lay down specific provisions. Specific provisions should therefore be laid down for the exceptions related to the ERDF.
(5)
Within the framework of an integrated urban development operation, it is considered necessary to support limited actions to renovate housing in areas experiencing or threatened by physical deterioration and social exclusion in the Member States that acceded to the European Union on or after 1 May 2004.
(6)
It is necessary to establish that the contribution from the ERDF to housing expenditure should concern the provision of good quality accommodation for lower income groups, including recently privatised housing stock, as well as accommodation for vulnerable social groups.
(7)
Efficient and effective implementation of actions supported by the ERDF depends on good governance and partnership among all the relevant territorial and socio-economic partners, and in particular regional and local authorities, as well as any other appropriate body during the various stages of implementation of the operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF.
(8)
The Member States and the Commission should ensure that there is no discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation during the various stages of implementation of the operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF.
(9)
Building on the experience and strengths of the URBAN Community initiative provided for in Article 20(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provisions on the Structural Funds (5), sustainable urban development should be reinforced by fully integrating measures in that field into the operational programmes co-financed by the ERDF, paying particular attention to local development and employment initiatives and their potential for innovation.
(10)
Particular attention should be paid to ensuring complementarity and consistency with other Community policies, and in particular with the Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities and the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme. Furthermore, there should be synergy between support granted from the ERDF, on the one hand, and that granted from the European Social Fund pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the European Social Fund (6), the Cohesion Fund pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1084/2006 of 11 July 2006 establishing a Cohesion Fund (7), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (8) and a European Fisheries Fund, on the other hand.
(11)
It is necessary to ensure that actions supported by the ERDF in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises take into account and support the implementation of the European Charter for Small Enterprises adopted at the Santa Maria da Feira European Council of 19 and 20 June 2000.
(12)
Specific attention should be paid to the outermost regions, namely by extending, on an exceptional basis, the scope of the ERDF to the financing of operating aid linked to the offsetting of the additional costs resulting from their specific economic and social situation, which is compounded by their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate and their economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development. Such specific measures require the use of Article 299(2) of the Treaty as a legal basis.
(13)
The ERDF should address the problems of accessibility to and remoteness from large markets confronting areas with an extremely low population density, as referred to in Protocol No 6 on special provisions for Objective 6 in the framework of the Structural Funds in Finland and Sweden to the 1994 Act of Accession. The ERDF should also address the specific difficulties encountered by certain islands, mountainous areas, border regions and sparsely populated areas whose geographical situation slows down their development with a view to supporting their sustainable development.
(14)
It is necessary to lay down specific provisions concerning the programming, management, monitoring and control of operational programmes under the European territorial cooperation objective.
(15)
It is necessary to support effective cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation with the Community's neighbouring countries where this is necessary to ensure that the regions of the Member States which border third countries can be effectively assisted in their development. Accordingly, it is appropriate to authorise on an exceptional basis the financing of assistance from the ERDF for projects located on the territory of third countries where they are for the benefit of the regions of the Community.
(16)
In the interest of clarity, Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999 of the European Parliament and the Council of 12 July 1999 on the European Regional Development Fund (9) should therefore be repealed,
